[[File:Buffy The Vampire Slayer Movie.jpg|thumb|200px|''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' film poster.]]

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[[File:Buffy The Vampire Slayer Movie.jpg|thumb]]

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'''''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''''' is a 1992 comedy film abouta"ValleyGirl"cheerleader([[KristySwanson]])chosenbyfate to fight and kill [[vampire]]s. The film is a light parody which plays on the clichés of typical horror movies. The film also led to a much more popular [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|TV series]] ofthesamename,starring [[SarahMichelle Gellar]], which was created and executive produced by screenwriter [[JossWhedon]]. Whedon often detailed how the TV series was a much closer rendering of his vision than the movie, which was compromised by commercial concerns and differences in interpretation.Though the film is now considered a relatively minor chapter in the broader Buffy legacy, it was moderately successful and generally well received at the time of its release.

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'''''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''''' is a film withthefirstmanifestationofthestorythatwouldbecome the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''televisionseries.Itwaswritten by [[JossWhedon]] and directed by [[Fran RubelKuzui]]. It was released in July31, [[1992]].

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==Synopsis==

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Blonde, bouncy [[Buffy Summers|Buffy]] is your typical high school cheerleader — her goal is to "marry [[wikipedia:Christian Slater|Christian Slater]] and die" and nothing gets in her way when it's time to shop. But all that changes when a strange man informs her she's been chosen by fate to kill [[vampire]]s. With the help of a romantic rebel, Buffy is soon spending school nights protecting L.A. from [[Lothos]], the Vampire King, his sidekick, [[Amilyn|Lefty]], and their determined gang of bloodsuckers. It's everything you'd expect from a teen queen in the Valley.

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==Summary==

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High school senior Buffy Summers is a cheerleader at [[Hemery High School]] in Los Angeles. She is a carefree popular girl whose main concerns are shopping and spending time with her rich, snooty friends and her boyfriend, [[Jeffrey Kramer|Jeffrey]]. While at school one day, she is approached by a man who calls himself [[Merrick Jamison-Smythe|Merrick]]. He informs her that she is the [[Slayer]], the Chosen One, destined to kill vampires, and he is a [[Watcher]], whose duty it is to guide and train her. She initially rebukes his claims, but is convinced that he is right when he is able to describe a recurring dream of hers in detail. In addition, Buffy is exhibiting uncanny abilities not known to her, including heightened agility, senses, and endurance, yet she repeatedly tries Merrick's patience with her frivolous nature, indifference to slaying, and sharp-tongued remarks.

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After several successful outings, Buffy is drawn into conflict with Lothos, a local vampire king, and his acolyte, Amilyn. Two young men, [[Pike]] and best friend [[Benny Jacks]], who resented Buffy and her friends due to differing social circles, are out drinking when they are attacked by Amilyn. Benny is turned, but Pike is saved by Merrick. As a vampire, Benny visits Pike and tries to get him to join him. Later, when Pike and his boss are discussing Benny, Pike tells him to run if he sees him. Not only this, but a studious girl from Buffy's class, Cassandra, is abducted one night by Amilyn and sacrificed to Lothos. When her body is found, the news spreads through LA and Hemery High, but her murder is met with indifference from Buffy's clique.

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When Pike realizes there is something wrong with Benny and that he is no longer safe, he decides to leave town. His plan is thwarted, however, when he encounters Amilyn and his tribe of vampires. Amilyn hitches a ride on the hood of Pike's van, which crashes into a tree just before Amilyn loses an arm. Buffy and Merrick arrive to rescue him, and Amilyn flees the fight to talk to Lothos. After this encounter, Buffy and Pike start a friendship, which eventually becomes romantic, and Pike becomes Buffy's partner in fighting the [[undead]].

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During a basketball game, Buffy finds out that Grueller, one of the players (who also happens to be a friend of Jeffrey's), is a vampire. After a quick chase to a parade float storage yard, Buffy finally confronts Lothos, shortly after she and Pike take down his gang. Lothos puts Buffy in a hypnotic trance, which is broken due to Merrick's intervention. Lothos turns on Merrick and stab him with the stake he attempted to use on him. Lothos leaves, saying that Buffy is not ready. As Merrick dies, he tells Buffy to do things her own way rather than live by the rules of others, while adding for her to "remember about the music." Because of her new life, responsibilities, and heartbreak, Buffy becomes emotionally shocked and starts dropping her Slayer duties. When she arrives at school, she attempts to explain everything to her friends, but they refuse to understand her as they are more concerned with their upcoming school dance, and Buffy falls out with them as she realizes she is outgrowing their immature, selfish behavior.

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At the senior dance, Buffy tries to patch things up with her friends but they turn against her, and she is dismayed to find that besides dumping her (by leaving her a message on her answering machine instead of telling her in person), Jeffrey went to the dance with her friend Jennifer. As a result, while the other students are dancing to a slow song on the dance floor, Buffy is all by herself without a dance partner. However, she meets up with Pike and, as they start to dance and kiss, Lothos leads the remainder of his minions to the school and attacks the students and the attending faculty.

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Buffy confronts the vampires outside, while Pike fights the vampiric Benny. After overpowering the vampires, she confronts Lothos inside the school and kills Amilyn. Lothos hypnotizes Buffy again and, when the dance music stops, she remembers Merrick's words (and realizes what he meant), and is ready to defend herself. Lothos ignites her cross, but she uses hairspray to create a makeshift flame-thrower and burns him before escaping back into the gym. Buffy sees everybody recover from the attack, but Lothos emerges again getting into a fight with Buffy, who then stakes him.

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As all of the survivors leave, Buffy and Pike decide to finish their dance. The two then leave the dance on a motorcycle, and a news crew interviews the students and the principal about the attack.

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==Continuity==

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*The comic miniseries "[[The Origin]]" is considered the canon story that replaces the events of this movie, adapted from Joss Whedon's original script.

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*Buffy's age and history are dissimilar, as she is a senior in high school in the film and the series starts with her as a sophomore.

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*Pike, despite being a major character in the film, never appears in the TV series, nor is he even mentioned. He does however return in the expanded universe in non-canon publications as well as the canon series The Origin which acts as a faithful adaptation of Joss Whedon's original script.

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*Besides Buffy herself, characters from the film who do go on to appear in the TV series include Merrick, who appears in a flashback in "[[Becoming, Part One]]," and Buffy's [[Joyce Summers|Mom]] (Candy Clark) and [[Hank Summers|Dad]] (James Paradise), who both remain nameless in the film. Buffy's surname is also never referred to in the film.

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*In this movie, Buffy defines her life goals as "graduate, go to Europe, marry Christian Slater, and die." Through the ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' series, she achieves all items except the marriage (respectively in "[[Graduation Day, Part Two]]", ''[[The Long Way Home, Part One]]'', and "[[Prophecy Girl]]"/"[[The Gift]]").

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*[[Robert Berman]] has the distinction of being her first ever slay.

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*The element of Buffy burning down the gym existed in Whedon's original script, but was not incorporated into the final production. The event is first referenced in debut episode "[[Welcome to the Hellmouth]]".

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*There are numerous differences in the mythology of the movie:

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**vampires cannot transform their faces, can fly or at least levitate, and do not crumble into dust when killed;

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**Buffy's ability to detect vampires gives her cramps and each Slayer has a distinctive birthmark;

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**Merrick referes to be hundreds of years old, having lived many lives training many slayers, whereas in the series watchers are mortal.

''Ineverygeneration there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.''

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Blonde,bouncy Buffy Summers (Kristy Swanson) is your typical popular cheerleader at [[Hemery High School]] in [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]] - her goal is to "''marry Christian Slater and die''". She is a care-free, popular girl, whose main concerns are shopping and spending time with her friends. But all that changes when she is approached by a strange man named Merrick, who informs her that she is [[Slayer|The Slayer]] who has been chosen by fate to kill the vampires. Acting as her Watcher, he has been sent to train and guide her. At first she refuses to accept her duties, but eventually sees there is no other way. She admits that she has dreams of past Slayers and reluctantly acknowledges that she is the Chosen One. She runs into Pike (Luke Perry), who is seen as a loser in her school. He becomes the male version of the "damsel in distress", being rescued by Buffy many times.

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==Originalscript==

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:''See [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film)/Original Script]]''

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After brief training, she is drawn into conflict with a local vampire king called Lothos (Rutger Hauer), who has killed a number of past Slayers, his sidekick, "Lefty" Amilyn (Paul Reubens), and their determined gang of bloodsuckers. Lothos kills Merrick, giving Buffy the motivation she needs. In a climactic battle set at the senior dance in her high school, Buffy defeats Lothos and his minions by being true to her own contemporary style and ignoring the conventions and limitations of previous Slayers.

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==Behind the scenes==

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[[File:Buffy the Vampire Slayer trailer|thumb|200px]]

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Contrary to popular belief Buffy does not burn down the gym at the climax of the film. That element existed in Joss Whedon's original script but was not incorporated into the final production. In the Buffyverse it is his script, not the film, that is considered canon; thus the references in the television program to Buffy having burnt it down.

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===Production===

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*According to writer and creator Joss Whedon, "the idea for the film came from seeing too many blondes walking into alleyways and being killed. I wanted, just once, for her to fight back when the monster attacked, and kick his ass. It was a simple thing for me to write because I knew exactly how I wanted things to work. I have special powers and I though it would be great to have vampires as the villains. She wouldn't be able to fit into normal society because she had these powers and this job that kept her from being what she wanted to be."<ref name=":0">Candace Havens, "[[Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy]]". BenBella Books, May 01, 2003.</ref>

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==OriginalScript==

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*Director[[Fran Rubel Kuzui]] had said that ''Buffy'' "isn't a vampire movie, but a pop culture comedy about what people think of vampires."<ref name=":0" />